Historiated Initial (E) Excised from a Gradual: Adoration of the Magi (c. 1200–1240): Art, History and Details

Historiated Initial (E) Excised from a Gradual: Adoration of the Magi (c. 1200–1240) is in the Cleveland Museum of Art collection.

The work and its context

The museum's open-access catalogue describes the work:

All the essential narrative elements—Mary, the infant Jesus, and the three Magi—are tucked into the lower body of the initial E. Although the initial is now separated from its original context in a gradual, or choir book, it would have marked the beginning of a new chant. In this case it is for the feast of Epiphany (January 6), which celebrates the arrival of the Magi in Bethlehem to see the newborn Christ. The Introit for that Mass begins: Ecce advenit dominator Dominus. . . . (Behold the lord the ruler is come. . . .).

Object facts

• Title: Historiated Initial (E) Excised from a Gradual: Adoration of the Magi
• Date: c. 1200–1240
• Culture: Italy, Siena
• Type: Manuscript
• Technique: ink, tempera, and gold on parchment
• Dimensions: Sheet: 17 x 21 cm (6 11/16 x 8 1/4 in.)
• Collection: MED - Manuscript Illuminations
• Department: Medieval Art
• Accession number: 1952.280

A detail from the museum

X-ray fluorescence analysis is a nondestructive technique used to determine the elemental composition of materials. On this leaf it revealed that the dark blue pigment contains azurite.

Collection credit

Purchase from the J. H. Wade Fund

View the collection record

See the museum's photographs and full catalogue entry. Catalogue text is reproduced from the Cleveland Museum of Art's open-access data, with HTML formatting removed. This object and its supplied image are designated CC0.